Photo : Courtesy
Standard Chartered Bangladesh and Friendship jointly hosted ‘Water, light and hope”, a special photo exhibition celebrating the occasion of International Women’s Day 2024.
The exhibition took place recently at an art gallery in Dhaka.
It centred on the empowerment, entrepreneurship and development of marginalized women living in shifting sedimentary islands (chars) at the heart of the Jamuna and Brahmaputra.
The photo exhibition displays the struggles and grit of women living in these hard-to-reach areas and the resilience they show to overcome daily challenges.
Portrayed through the photographs were char women’s attainment of financial freedom and independence, acquiring of new skills, employment, education, participation in health and disaster emergencies.
Reflecting on the photo exhibition, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said: “These photographs document the reality of the lives of some incredible women, speaking of their courage, resilience, and dignity. These are stories of lives amidst water, light, and hope.”
“Women are driven by commitment, deep self-dignity, empathy, and compassion—herein lies our strength to achieve our goals,” said Runa Khan, founder of Friendship.
“For a woman, efficacy and innovation are daily tools. I believe that women are the strongest instruments for ensuring sustainability and bringing long-term impact into a community. The world today is close to a tipping point. Enormous effort is needed to have a just society. And if we empower women, we will endow humanity with the power to succeed.”
Also present in the event were Tanjina Sharmin, Deputy Director and head of Friendship’s Communication department and Bitopi Das Chowdhury, Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing, Standard Chartered Bangladesh.
To alleviate hardship, Standard Chartered Bangladesh and Friendship have collaborated to help char residents to combat the key challenges they face: access to clean drinking water, adequate food supply, proper shade from plants, help in arresting soil erosion, and most importantly access to electricity.
The Bank’s holistic Solar Village project with Friendship is aimed at providing sustainable assistance to Ghughumari’s community members.
Standard Chartered and Friendship are also implementing a holistic agriculture program to support residents of 36 hard-to-reach char communities across the northern districts of Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Mymensingh, and in the southern districts of Shaymnagar, Sathkhira, and Patuakhali.
This program delivers sustainable agricultural technologies, training sessions, technical guidance, and market-extension assistance, along with farm mechanization support, and financial inclusion support for over 7,000 farmers.
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